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X
= X = From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigationJump to search This article is about the letter. For the multiplication sign, see Multiplication sign. For other uses, see X (disambiguation). |} (speculated origin) * Χ χ ** �� *** X x |- !Time period |~-700 to present |- !Descendants | • × • ℵ • ⨘ • ⨉ • ⨯ • ✗ • ☒ • ꭓ • X̧ |- !Sisters |Х �� Ⴕ ქ Ⴟ ჯ |- !Variations |(See below) |- ! colspan="2" |Other |- !Other letters commonly used with |x(x) |- | colspan="2" |'This article contains IPA phonetic symbols.' Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. |} |- | * v * t * e |} |} X''' (named ex /ɛks/, plural exes1) is the 24th and antepenultimate letter in the modern English alphabet and the ISO basic Latin alphabet. Contents * 1History * 2Use in writing systems ** 2.1English ** 2.2Other languages ** 2.3Other systems * 3Other uses * 4Related characters ** 4.1Descendants and related characters in the Latin alphabet ** 4.2Ancestors and siblings in other alphabets * 5Computing ** 5.1Computing codes ** 5.2Operating systems * 6Other representations * 7See also * 8References * 9External links Historyedit In Ancient Greek, 'Χ' and 'Ψ' were among several variants of the same letter, used originally for /kʰ/ and later, in western areas such as Arcadia, as a simplification of the digraph 'ΧΣ' for /ks/. In the end, more conservative eastern forms became the standard of Classical Greek, and thus 'Χ' (Chi) stood for /kʰ/ (later /x/; palatalized to ç in Modern Greek before front vowels). However, the Etruscans had taken over 'Χ' from western Greek, and it therefore stands for /ks/ in Etruscan and Latin. The letter 'Χ' ~ 'Ψ' for /kʰ/ was a Greek addition to the alphabet, placed after the Semitic letters along with phi 'Φ' for /pʰ/. Use in writing systemsedit Englishedit In English orthography, ⟨x⟩ is typically pronounced as the voiceless consonant cluster /ks/ when it follows the stressed vowel (e.g. ox), and the voiced consonant /ɡz/ when it precedes the stressed vowel (e.g. exam). It is also pronounced /ɡz/ when it precedes a silent ⟨h⟩ and a stressed vowel (e.g. exhaust).2 Before ⟨i⟩ or ⟨u⟩, it can be pronounced /kʃ/ or /ɡʒ/ (e.g. sexual and luxury); these result from earlier /ksj/ and /ɡzj/. It also makes the sound /kʃ/ in words ending in ''-xion'' (typically used only in British-based spellings of the language; American spellings tend to use ''-ction''). When ⟨x⟩ ends a word, it is always /ks/ (e.g. fax), except in loan words such as faux (see French, below). There are very few English words that start with ⟨x⟩ (the fewest of any letter). When ⟨x⟩ does start a word, it is usually pronounced /z/ (e.g. xylophone, xenophobia, and xanthan); in rare recent loanwords or foreign proper names, it can also be pronounced /s/ (e.g. the obsolete Vietnamese monetary unit xu) or /ʃ/ (e.g. Chinese names starting with Xi like Xiaomi or Xinjiang). Many of the words that start with ⟨x⟩ are of Greek origin, or standardized trademarks (Xerox) or acronyms (XC). In abbreviations, it can represent "trans-" (e.g. XMIT for transmit, XFER for transfer), "cross-" (e.g. X-ing for crossing, XREF for cross-reference), "Christ-" as shorthand for the labarum (e.g. Xmas for Christmas, Xian for Christian), the "crys-" in crystal (XTAL), or various words starting with "ex-" (e.g. XL for extra large, XOR for exclusive-or). X is the third least frequently used letter in English (after ⟨q⟩ and ⟨z⟩), with a frequency of about 0.15% in words.3 Other languagesedit In Latin, ⟨x⟩ stood for ks. In some languages, as a result of assorted phonetic changes, handwriting adaptations or simply spelling convention, ⟨x⟩ has other pronunciations: * In Basque, ⟨x⟩ represents ʃ. Additionally there is the digraph ⟨tx⟩ tʃ. * In Dutch, ⟨x⟩ usually represents ks, except in the name of the island of Texel, which is pronounced Tessel. This is because of historical sound-changes in Dutch, where all /ks/ sounds have been replaced by /s/ sounds. Words with an ⟨x⟩ in the Dutch language are nowadays usually loanwords. In the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, family names with ⟨x⟩ are not uncommon (e.g. Dierckx, Hendrickx, Koninckx, Sterckx, Vranckx). * In Norwegian, ⟨x⟩ is generally pronounced ks, but since the 19th century, there has been a tendency to spell it out as ⟨ks⟩; it may still be retained in personal names, though it is fairly rare, and occurs mostly in foreign words and SMS language. Usage in Danish and Finnish is similar (while Swedish, on the other hand, makes frequent use of ⟨x⟩ in native words as well as in loanwords). * In German, generally pronounced ks; in native words, however,such as Ochs or wachsen, the cluster ks is often written ⟨chs⟩. * French: at the ends of words, silent (or z in liaison if the next word starts with a vowel). Three exceptions are pronounced s: six ("six"), dix ("ten") and in some city names such as Bruxelles (although some people pronounce it 'ks') or Auxerre; it is fully pronounced ks in Aix, the name of several towns. It is pronounced z in sixième and dixième. Otherwise ks or (primarily in words beginning with ex- followed by a vowel) ɡz. * In Italian, ⟨x⟩ is either pronounced ks, as in extra, uxorio, xilofono,4 or ɡz, as exogamia, when it is preceded by ⟨e⟩ and followed by a vowel. In several related languages, notably Venetian, it represents the voiced sibilant z. It is also used, mainly amongst the young people, as a short written form for "per", meaning "for": for example, "x sempre" ("forever"). This is because in Italian the multiplication sign (similar to ⟨x⟩) is called "per". However, ⟨x⟩ is found only in loanwords, as it is not part of the standard Italian alphabet; in most words with ⟨x⟩, this letter may be replaced with 's' or 'ss' (with different pronunciation: xilofono/silofono, taxi/tassì) or, rarely, by 'cs' (with the same pronunciation: claxon/clacson). * In Old Spanish, ⟨x⟩ was pronounced ʃ, as it is still currently in other Iberian Romance languages. Later, the sound evolved to a hard x sound. In modern Spanish, due to a spelling reform, whenever ⟨x⟩ is used for the x sound it has been replaced with ⟨j⟩, including in words that originally had ⟨x⟩ such as ejemplo or ejercicio, though ⟨x⟩ is still retained for some names (notably 'México', even though 'Méjico' may sometimes be used in Spain). Presently, ⟨x⟩ represents the sound s (word-initially), or the consonant cluster ks (e.g. oxígeno, examen). Rarely, it can be pronounced ʃ as in Old Spanish in some proper nouns such as 'Raxel' (a variant of Rachel) and Uxmal. * In Galician and Leonese, ⟨x⟩ is pronounced ʃ in most cases. In learned words, such as '''taxativo (taxing), it is pronounced ks. However, Galician speakers tend to pronounce it s, especially when it appears before plosives, such as in externo (external). * In Catalan, ⟨x⟩ has three sounds; the most common is ʃ; as in 'xarop' (syrup). Other sounds are: ks; 'fixar' (to fix), ɡz; 'examen'. In addition, ʃ gets voiced to ʒ before voiced consonants; 'caixmir'. Catalan also has the digraph ⟨tx⟩, pronounced tʃ. * In Portuguese, ⟨x⟩ has four main sounds; the most common is ʃ, as in 'xícara' (cup). The other sounds are: ks as in 'flexão' (flexion); s, when preceded by E and followed by a consonant, as in 'contexto' (ʃ in European Portuguese), and in a small number of other words, such as 'próximo' (close/next); and (the rarest) z, which occurs in the prefix 'ex-' before a vowel, as in 'exagerado' (exaggerated). A rare fifth sound is ɡz, coexisting with z and ks as acceptable pronunciations in exantema and in words with the Greek prefix 'hexa-'. * In Venetian, it represents the voiced alveolar sibilant z much like in Portuguese 'exagerado', English 'xylophone' or in the French 'sixième'. Examples from medieval texts include raxon (reason), prexon (prison), dexerto (desert), chaxa/caxa (home). Nowadays, the best-known word is xe (is/are). The most notable exception to this rule is the name Venexia veˈnɛsja in which ⟨x⟩ has evolved from the initial voiced sibilant z to the present day voiceless sibilant. * In Albanian, ⟨x⟩ represents dz, while the digraph ⟨xh⟩ represents dʒ. * In Maltese, ⟨x⟩ is pronounced ʃ or, in some cases, ʒ (only in loanwords such as 'televixin', and not for all speakers). * In Polish, ⟨x⟩ was used prior to 19th century both in loanwords and native words and was pronounced ks or ɡz, e.g. xiążę, xięstwo (now książę, księstwo). Later was replaced by ⟨ks⟩ and ⟨gz⟩ in all words and remained only in surnames as Axentowicz, Jaxa, Koxowski, Mixtacki, Rexemowski, Xiężopolski, names as Xawery, Xymena and abbreviations. Additionally, in languages for which the Latin alphabet has been adapted only recently, ⟨x⟩ has been used for various sounds, in some cases inspired by European usage, but in others, for consonants uncommon in Europe. For these no Latin letter stands out as an obvious choice, and since most of the various European pronunciations of ⟨x⟩ can be written by other means, the letter becomes available for more unusual sounds. * ⟨x⟩ represents x (voiceless velar fricative) in e.g. Azerbaijani, Kurdish, Lojban, Tatar, Uzbek, Pashto and Uyghur (Latin script). * Esperanto: The x-convention replaces ⟨ĉ⟩, ⟨ĝ⟩, ⟨ĥ⟩, ⟨ĵ⟩, ⟨ŝ⟩, and ⟨ŭ⟩ with x-suffixes: ⟨cx⟩, ⟨gx⟩, ⟨hx⟩, ⟨jx⟩, ⟨sx⟩, and ⟨ux⟩. * In transliteration of Indian languages, primarily Indo-Aryan languages, ⟨x⟩ represents the consonant cluster kʃ in alternate spellings of words containing 'क्ष' (kṣ), especially names such as Laxmi and Dixit. Less frequently, ⟨x⟩ is used to represent 'ख़' x. * In Apache ⟨x⟩ represents x * In Nahuatl, ⟨x⟩ represents ʃ. * In Nguni languages, ⟨x⟩ represents the alveolar lateral click ǁ. * In Pirahã, ⟨x⟩ symbolizes the glottal stop ʔ. * An illustrating example of "x" as a "leftover" letter is differing usage in three different Cushitic languages: ** Afar: voiced alveolar implosive ɗ ** Oromo: alveolar ejective tʼ ** Somali: voiceless pharyngeal fricative ħ * In East and Southeast Asia: ** In Lao, based on romanization of Lao consonants, ⟨x⟩ may represent ɕ, e.g. in Lan Xang. ** In Vietnamese, ⟨x⟩ is pronounced like English ⟨s⟩ (at the beginning of a word, e.g. "sing"). This sound was ɕ in Middle Vietnamese, resembling the Portuguese sound /ʃ/, spelled ⟨x⟩. ** In Hanyu Pinyin, Standard Chinese's official transcription system in China, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan, the letter ⟨x⟩ represents the voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative /ɕ/, for instance in 'Xi', ɕi. Other systemsedit In the International Phonetic Alphabet, ⟨x⟩ represents a voiceless velar fricative. Other usesedit In mathematics, x'' is commonly used as the name for an independent variable or unknown value. The modern tradition of using ''x to represent an unknown was introduced by René Descartes in La Géométrie (1637).5 As a result of its use in algebra, X is often used to represent unknowns in other circumstances (e.g. X-rays, Generation X, The X-Files, and The Man from Planet X; see also Malcolm X). On some identification documents, the letter X represents a non-binary gender, where F means female and M means male.67 In the Cartesian coordinate system, x'' is used to refer to the horizontal axis. It may also be used as a typographic approximation for the multiplication sign. In mathematical typesetting, ''x meaning an algebraic variable is normally in italic type (), partly to avoid confusion with the multiplication symbol. In fonts containing both x (the letter) and × (the multiplication sign), the two glyphs are dissimilar. It can be used as an abbreviation for 'between' in the context of historical dating; e.g., '1483 x 1485'. Maps and other images sometimes use an X to label a specific location, leading to the expression "X marks the spot".8 The Roman numeral Ⅹ represents the number 10.910 In art or fashion, the use of X indicates a collaboration by two or more artists, e.g. Aaron Koblin x Takashi Kawashima. This application, which originated in Japan, now extends to other kinds of collaboration outside the art world.11 This usage mimics the use of a similar mark in denoting botanical hybrids, for which scientifically the multiplication sign (×) is used, but informally a lowercase "x" is also used. Related charactersedit Descendants and related characters in the Latin alphabetedit * X with diacritics: Ẍ ẍ Ẋ ẋ ᶍ12 * IPA-specific symbols related to X: χ * Teuthonista phonetic transcription-specific symbols related to X:13 ** U+AB56 ꭖ latin small letter x with low right ring ** U+AB57 ꭗ latin small letter x with long left leg ** U+AB58 ꭘ latin small letter x with long left leg and low right ring ** U+AB59 ꭙ latin small letter x with long left leg with serif * ˣ : Modifier letter small x is used for phonetic transcription * ₓ : Subscript small x is used in Indo-European studies14 Ancestors and siblings in other alphabetsedit * Χ χ : Greek letter Chi, from which the following derive: ** Х х : Cyrillic letter Kha ** Ⲭ ⲭ : Coptic letter Khe, which derives from Greek Chi ** �� : Gothic letter enguz, which derives from Greek Chi ** �� : Old Italic X, which derives from Greek Chi, and is the ancestor of modern Latin X *** ᚷ : Runic letter Gyfu, which may derive from old Italic X * Ξ ξ : Greek letter Xi, which was used in place of Chi in the Eastern (and the modern) Greek alphabets Computingedit Computing codesedit : 1 Also for encodings based on ASCII, including the DOS, Windows, ISO-8859 and Macintosh families of encodings. In the C programming language, "x" preceded by zero (as in 0x or 0X) is used to denote hexadecimal literal values. Operating systemsedit X is commonly used as a prefix term in nouns related to the X Window System and Unix Other representationsedit See alsoedit * Latinx * X mark * XX (disambiguation) * XXX (disambiguation) * XXXX (disambiguation)